Tuesday, October 23, 2012

New Medications Are Not Agreeing With Me

Friday I went to my new doctor, a rhuematologist to start treatment for my newly diagnosed Rheumatoid arthritis (early stage, non erosive). She put me on prednisone (2 tablets daily for 1 week, then 1 tablet daily for six weeks) to start working sooner and Plaquenil (2 tablets daily forever) for long term treatment to stabilize the RA.

I picked up my prescriptions in early afternoon and took both. I knew there was a risk that the prednisone would keep me up at night. It did. I barely slept which means I was a touch cranky and nearly fell asleep at the gym (but get points for getting my lazy butt there). I said no more prednisone until Sunday when I can take one tablet first thing in the morning and hopefully it will have worn off in time for me to go to bed. We slept late so I decided to put that off until Monday morning when upon arising at our normal weekday time I immediately took one prednisone. I did take Plaquenil on Saturday and Sunday.

By the time I took a shower, I decided that I must have gotten a sunburn when we ate lunch outside on Sunday as my face was feeling burnt. Upon closer examination my face was all red and bumpy so I figured some kind of reaction. I got to work and the three women who were there (who are mothers and therefore good a noticing and diagnosing little ailments instantly) said 'why is your face so red?'. Their diagnosis was I had a rash all over my face.

I called my rheumatologist's office immediately and ended up speaking with her nurse practitioner as the doctor doesn't work on Mondays. She thought I was having a reaction to the Plaquenil but I could tell she wanted me to head to an ER if it got worse. I am allergic to Benadryl so I couldn't just take one to help with the symptoms. I did tell her I had an appointment with my back pain doctor that after noon to talk about treatment for my newly diagnosed fibromyalgia and would mention it while I was there.

My pain doctor thought it was a reaction to the prednisone and not the Plaquenil but advised not taking either until I talked to my rheumatologist today. He also did not prescribe anything new for my fibromyalgia other than to increase my pain meds dose. I think he wants to get the RA under control so they can focus on one ailment before going on to the next ailment.

I felt pretty yucky yesterday afternoon and drank tons of water on the theory that I could wash it out of my system. I sat around for a while and then went to the gym which turned out to be a good thing as one of the trainers were there and gave me lots of advice for adapting my exercise program until the RA meds kick in.

Last night I went to bed early, and woke up every couple of hours. My face still feels weird but not as red and blotchy as yesterday. The true test will be when I get to work this morning on what today's verdict is from the mother's I work with.

I don't like these new meds. They are turning my world upside down. Who knew two little brown prescription bottles could change my life so much? I need to find something to work for the RA and then go on to the fibro. This will take months. Grr, grr, grr.

3 comments:

naturopath doctor said...

Reading this saddens my heart. You are an amazing person, and a gifted writer. I encourage you to keep blogging. I helps sooth the soul, whether you feel it or not. Keep the status of your treatment coming... Whether the world is reading it or not. And more importantly, stay strong. God bless.

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AnneMarie said...

Hugs, Caroline. I wish I could give you a real life hug but for now, this will have to do.... Sending you love... Hope this sorts itself out quickly.

xoxox

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